Water Quality - (Sep/05/2013 )

Hi Experts

sometimes I get confused by the terms related to the water used in molecular biology experiments, like RNase free water, Nuclease free water, DEPC treated water. Do all these terms describe the same quality of water? kindly educate by your experience

Essentially yes. They are all saying there is not RNAse contamination of the water. There are many ways of achieving this, hence the variety, but they are interchangeable for RNA work.

and can I use anyone of these for PCR or other DNA work?

Yes, although it is likely overkill. DNAse is far less of a problem than RNAse, since it is far less stable, and can be inhibited by removing Mg++ ions with EDTA. This is why your solutions for working with DNA  almost always have EDTA at 1 mM or so.

thank you very much phage434......